homeward bound.

I am home and absolutely loving it. If anything, I'm extremely grateful to be able to spend time with all of my loved ones.

Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone.

raw footage from friday's protest

if you think you're bulletproof, you're right

• Apparently people actually read this and reference it to my mother? Most excellent.
• (500) Days of Summer was every bit as good as I remembered it was. The alternative storytelling format, the acting, the music, the city (Los Angeles! ♥), the story itself...it all worked. If I can see a movie twice and enjoy it equally and be willing to sit through it a third time, that's a good sign.
• Interesting lecture the other day in my Mass Media class on how nothing is private anymore, due to the Internet and blogging...expect a post about this soon :)
• I've been really into the Beatles lately.
  
• I've been in the mood to watch Watchmen again...I have the Director's Cut on Blu-Ray at home and I am definitely going to watch it as soon as I get home!
• I CANNOT WAIT TO GO HOME. Monday!!
• I have one big project left before I'm free, I just want to get it done!
• CAL VS STANFORD THIS WEEKEND; GO BEARS!
  
• Bonfire tonight @ the Greek Theatre :) Exciting! I might not go though, 'cause it is cold and rainy and I really don't want to get sick before I go home.
• Berkeley students protesting the 32% increase in student fees; read about it here
  

los angeles, i'm yours.

So there's really no way around this, but goddamn, I love LA. I hate to love it, but I do with all my heart! Not just because of who's there, or our amazing sports teams (Laker & Dodger pride!) but because of the nature of the city itself. The way it's mean to outsiders but kind to the locals; the way it feeds the tourist machine but manages to maintain a mind of its own outside the capitalist machine. One of the best days I've ever had in my life was driving around downtown Los Angeles for hours endlessly, searching for a store that no longer existed; driving on streets I had never seen before, and driving all the way down the ones I did. Amazing. I don't know how to explain it if you've never lived there, but for me it's the most magical city in the world. It's a world of endless possibilities, of dreams both shattered and realized, of film and drama and love and heartbreak. It's over-hyped and glamorized and full of sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll. It will break you and it will crush you and it will make you that much stronger for surviving it all. I'm romanticizing, of course, but how can I not, when I love it? Love involves all of the emotions, which is exactly how I feel about my city. I hate the traffic but I love exploring; I get frustrated with the tourists but they provide for my well-being; I'm annoyed by celebrities but I want to work with them. It's a city of contradictions, but instead of trying to hide it, it embraces it! If only every city was so honest. It's such a huge, diverse city as well; I made a post on Facebook a few weeks ago asking my friends their favorite places in LA, here are some of their answers:

• Laurel Canyon
• Silver Lake
• Los Feliz
  
• Westwood/UCLA
• The GroveDowntown
• Santa Monica
• Burbank
• Malibu/Coral Canyon hike
• L.A. Live (Staples Center and Nokia Theater area)
• Topanga Canyon
• Venice Beach
• Hollywood
• West Hollywood
• All the Graffiti along the 101 or the River, really anywhere with amazing Graff
• LACMA
• The swings in Manhattan Beach.
• Sunset, Santa Monica, and Beverly
• Warner Bros. Studies
• The Ikeda World Peace Auditorium
• LA Zoo
• Pinks on La Brea.
• Olvera street/La Placita church
• Chinatown
• Bourgeois Pig
  

With such diversity, there's something for everyone! Personally, I love the Theater district in Downtown, Santa Monica, LACMA, and my absolute favorite, the Griffith Observatory. I got into an argument debate today with someone about my city; she was telling me (with such disdain in her voice) how she could never live in LA. Well, that's fine, but don't you dare make judgments about the city I love!

(this is to be the first of many "I ♥ LA" posts, haha)

let it be.

What I've come to expect from life is when everything is going well and according to plan, something has to come up and remind you that not everything is sunshine and daisies. Everything was going so well, things were bound to go awry eventually. While this may be a more pessimistic view of life, it certainly seems to work out that way, so pardon me for sticking with my cynicism. I'm not going to elaborate too much; this is a public forum, and I don't want just anyone reading about my personal issues. However, this is the first time I've had to deal with something of magnitude completely on my own, and it's really hard. Away at school and far from any family members or close friends, I am left by myself to deal with this. Luckily I'm flying home on Monday and so I'll be with the people who matter most in a matter of days, but it's still hard to be up here and completely helpless...not that I'd be able to do much if I was home anyways. Cryptic much? I suppose. In any case, what's happening is a valuable lesson: enjoy the good times, learn from the bad ones, and never take the people you love for granted.



xo
Andrea

one week!

So thanks to a friend who waited until the last minute to buy her Thanksgiving flight home, I was informed that there were still tickets available for Monday November 23...so, long story short, I switched my flight and instead of flying home the day of Thanksgiving on the 26th I'm flying home the 23rd! Super exciting...I can't wait to see all my loved ones three days sooner than expected. And, I get a week off...hooray!

you make my dreams come true.

Today, as I walking home from work, it was perfect outside. Cold but sunny, just the way I like it. My hair was curly, but it had behaved and looked cute. I was wearing my red flannel shirt and favorite jeans and boots and my wayfarers; total hipster territory, I know, but it's Berkeley, haha. As I was walking I had my iPod on shuffle, and "You Make My Dreams Come True" by Hall & Oates came on for the first time in forever and it felt exactly like that scene in (500) Days of Summer.



You know, that one. ^^ Except without the dancing... Regardless, it was one of the best moments I've had in awhile.

I'm going to a screening of (500) Days of Summer on Thursday for $3, I'm really excited. It's one of the best films I've seen in a long time, and I find it to be really relatable. For those who have seen it, would you say that you're more of a Tom or more of a Summer? Always interesting to see which side you fall on. In any case, what it really does is make me miss Los Angeles with a passion I didn't know I had for the city. Ten days!

feeling this.

Upon realizing I hadn't made any school related posts lately, I decided it was time for one! School is going well, I think. I absolutely adore my Mass Media and Advertising in America classes, and although they're really difficult, I truly feel as though I'm learning a lot. Mass Media is fascinating, and it's interesting to actually study the evolution of media and how it affects society. Advertising is ridiculously hard, but to see how not only society shapes ads but ads shape society...it's pretty intense. My Gender in America class (which I changed to Pass/No Pass because I felt that I bombed the midterm...only to get an A, ugh) is pretty boring; I guess it could be interesting, but the way the information is presented my attention is quickly diverted elsewhere. My Digital Photography decal is fairly interesting, and I'm enjoying learning to play around with the different features on my camera. I'm planning a photo post soon, so look out for that!

What I'm going to do with all this knowledge I'm not quite sure, but hopefully I'll figure it out soon. I kind of want to start looking into the LSATs and seeing if that's going to be something I want to do; if not, start looking at either grad school for Mass Comm (for which I'd have to take the GRE ugh) or film school. Publishing also interests me, as I've always been an excellent editor. I'm not sure which direction I want to go in, but I have time to figure it out...well, a little bit of time. Is it bad I also want to take a year off to live abroad (hopefully in Spain)? And that I kind of want to move back to Los Angeles a little bit? I don't know. These are the things I have in the back of my mind, all the time. It's stressful!

At least I don't have to worry about the future right now...I'm too busy dealing with the present. Last week I went to talk to my GSI (graduate student instructor) about the ad analysis I was writing and afterwards, we were talking and he commented that I seem to have assimilated fairly quickly and easily for a transfer student. I hadn't thought about it, but I suppose it's true...as soon as I got here, I jumped in and got a job (at Berkeley Hillel), joined Apartment Association and CalTV. Schoolwise, I've always been pretty focused, so that hasn't been as much of a problem, though it's a lot more painful to procrastinate here than it was at GCC. I am having a little bit more trouble when it comes to meeting people, but even then, I am slowly building friendships. It took me awhile, but I've come to the realization that the reason my friendships back home are so amazing is because they've developed over a number of years; I can't expect the same connection up here when I've only been here a few months! In any case, I am making friends and meeting all sorts of different people and it's lovely. I've gotten homesick (especially with my family, best friends, and boy all at home) a few times, but I know that coming here was the best thing I could ever do, and that this time apart from all of them just makes me value them more. I have friends who have gone home three, four times already, and honestly, I think that just makes things harder. To truly feel at home here you've got to make a conscious effort to make it your home, and stop thinking about what you left behind. That's not to say I'm never coming back--are you kidding, I love Los Angeles!--but instead of crying over what I left behind I'm going to enjoy all the new things Berkeley has to offer that LA does not. And if I want to go back when I'm done with school I can, and I will!

In any case, things are going well, I'm doing well, and I'm fairly content. Thanksgiving is in eleven days and I can't wait to see everyone I love! Life is too good sometimes, and I definitely feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

more adventurous.

I bought my tickets!

Winter break:
-December 17--Fly home to Los Angeles! <3
-December 30--Late night flight to Newark
-December 31--Leave for Israel!
-January 11--Fly back into JFK
-January 11-15--Stay with Sam in New York City
-January 16--Fly back to school
-January 19--Spring semester starts!

I am so very excited about winter break...it'll be here before I know it! I mean, Thanksgiving is in a little less than three weeks...and after that, the semester will fly by. Though I'll only get a couple of weeks at home to actually relax, be with my family and see all of my friends, I definitely think it's worth it. I can't believe I actually get this amazing opportunity, but I'm so glad I do, and I'm going to take full advantage of it.

On a sidenote, I AM SO EXCITED TO GO SEE AVATAR AT MIDNIGHT! It's the first thing I'm doing once I get home, haha...it opens December 18. Lucky for me my finals end when they do! :) If you have no idea what I'm talking about, watch the trailer...it looks amazing. Fangirl much? I don't even care. I am a total nerd and I am super excited to go see a movie at midnight (my first since Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last summer), especially because I'm going with people who are as nerdy as I am. Awesomeness.



Back to writing my papers...I just realized I won't have time on Monday or Tuesday to write at all, and they're due on Thursday/Friday...so I'm staying up tonight. Just me, my energy drink, and the Beatles. It's going to be a long night, but it will be Thanksgiving and Winter Break before I know it, and that's motivation enough to keep me going!

get back.

I feel overwhelmed. By school, by friends (or lack thereof), by the future, by monetary issues, by new feelings, by having to make decisions, by having to grow up.

For the most part, I'd say I'm doing okay; in fact, I'd even venture as far as saying that I'm doing well. But then I have these moments where nothing is clear, and the lack of clarity terrifies me. When I was going through the transfer process, everything made sense--essentially, I just had to follow a list of steps, and if I did everything right, I would end up where I wanted. Easy enough. But now that I'm here, at Berkeley, my goal since I was twelve...where do I go next? I know, I need to stop worrying about the future and focus on the present. Hell, if the universe ends in 2012 it won't actually matter if I end up going to film school or law school, right? So I can just take the year off until the apocalypse? Yeah? Awesome.

I don't even know what I'm talking about. I have two major papers to finish, that I HAVE to do well on. HAVE TO. If not, I risk not getting A's...and goddamn I'm going to get those A's if it kills me. See what Cal is doing to me? Sigh.

I'm going to Israel over winter break for Birthright!

YAY.

I just have to survive the rest of this semester first, haha.

save tonight.

My love for 90's music will never die!



In other news, this weekend was EXACTLY what I needed; I feel ready to take on the world.